Device for charging coking ovens

ABSTRACT

An outer tubular member has a lower end which is to be placed into communication with the inlet opening of the coking oven, and an upper end which communicates via a normally open back-pressure valve with a coal hopper. The valve closes if back-pressure of a certain magnitude develops in the inlet of the coking oven. An inner tubular member is concentrically accommodated in the outer tubular member and has at its upper end a flange which is connected with the inner side of the outer tubular member so that the members define between themselves an annular gap which is open at the lower end of the outer tubular member. A lower end portion of the inner tubular member converges conically outwardly beyond the lower end of the outer tubular member, and a suction vent communicates with the annular clearance for venting gases which enter the gap.

United States Patent [191 Echterhoff et a1.

[ DEVICE FOR CHARGING COKING OVENS [75] Inventors: Heinrich Echterhoff;Wilfried Herz,

both of Essen, Germany [73] Assignee: Firma Bergwerksverband G.m.b.1l.,

Essen, Germany [22] Filed: Nov. 8, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 196,563

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 10, 1970 Germany ..P 20 60677.3

[52] US. Cl. ..214/35 R, 202/263 [51] Int. Cl. ..C 10b 31/02 [58] FieldofSearch..214/l8 PH, 35 R; 202/262, 263

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,406,098 10/1968 Humez eta1. ..202/263 3,435,596 4/1969 Hornung ..202/263 X [4 1 Feb. 13, 1973Primary ExaminerRobert G. Sheridan Attorney-Michael S. Striker [5 7]ABSTRACT An outer tubular member has a lower end which is to be placedinto communication with the inlet opening of the coking oven, and anupper end which communicates via a normally open back-pressure valvewith a coal hopper. The valve closes if back-pressure of a certainmagnitude develops in the inlet of the coking oven. An inner tubularmember is concentrically accommodated in the outer tubular member andhas at its upper end a flange which is connected with the inner side ofthe outer tubular member so that the members'define between themselvesan annular gap which is open at the lower end of the outer tubularmember. A lower end portion of the inner tubularmember convergesconically outwardly beyond the lower end of the outer tubular member,and a suction vent communicates with the annular clearance for ventinggases which enter the gap.

6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures DEVICE FOR CHARGING COKING OVENS BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a fillingdevice, and more particularly to a device for charging coking ovens withcoal, especially with dry coal which may or may not be pre-heated.

Coking ovens are charged with coal through, inlet openings provided inthe crown or ceiling of the oven. Conventionally this is done by the useof charging cars with move along the outer side of the crown and areprovided with one or more coal hoppers through which the coal can freelyrun out after a closure device, for instance a slidable element, iswithdrawn. Alternately, the coal may be discharged from the coal hopperor hoppers of the charging cars via rotary disk feeders or vibratorychutes. The inlet of the coking oven is connected with the coal outletof the charging car in suitable manner, for instance in well knownmanner by the use of extensible telescopic charging sockets. It is alsoknown in some instances to provide guide funnels.

Irrespective of the manner in which a coking oven is filled or chargedwith coal, however, it is inevitable-that during charging the so-calledcharging gases will escape from the inlet or charging opening,frequently with significant development of dust and smoke. It is toowell known to those skilled in the art what the disadvantages of suchfree escape are, and it will suffice to point out that the prior artproposes withdrawal of these gases by steam-jet nozzles built into theriser pipes, or by suction conduits carried by the charging car.However, none of the approaches thus far suggested have been entirelysatisfactory. They .have in particular failed to meet the requirementsmade of them were the coal has low water content, because the drier thecoal, the more is dust and smoke emission during charging. Evidently,therefore, the maximum difficulties in terms of smoke and dust emissionwill occur when pre-heated coal is charged into the coking oven, becauseit is of course entirely dry, although the magnitude of the problem willbe only slightly smaller if the coal is not preheated but is normallydry. I

The prior-art approaches outlined above contain no proposal which iscapable of satisfactorily coping with these difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, a general object of thepresent invention to provide a device which will overcome thedisadvantages outlined above with respect to the prior art. I

More particularly, his an object of the invention to provide a devicefor charging coking ovens with dry coal, which may or may not bepre-heated, which is not possessed of the disadvantages ,of the priorart and which eliminates the difficulties due to smoke and dustemission.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide such a device whichcan be utilized with any conventional or indeed known feedinginstrumentality such as a charging car, a belt conveyor, a flightconveyor or a conveyor screw.

In pursuance of the above objects and of other which will becomeapparent subsequently one feature of the invention resides in a devicefor charging coking ovens with coal, particularly dry coal, whichcomprises an outer tubular member having a lower end adapted forcommunication with an inlet opening of the coking oven, and an upperend. A hopper for coal communicates with the upper end and normally openbackpressure valve means is interposed between the hopper and the upperend and is adapted to close in response to the development of backpressure.

An inner tubular member is accommodated concentrically in the outertubular member and has one end portion fixed with the same in an uppersection of the latter and a converging other end portion projectingoutwardly beyond the lower end. The tubular members define with oneanother an annular clearance having an open terminus at the lower endand venting means communicates with the annular clearance for ventingfrom the same gases which enter the open terminus.

Center and guide the coal jet which imerges from the device into theinlet opening of the coking oven it is advantageous if in accordancewith a further concept of the invention the conically convergent portionof the inner tubular member is provided with an interior constriction,that is if the constriction reduces or constricts the free cross sectionof the inner tubular member.

It is further advantageous, if the outer tubular member is providedabove and below the area where it is connected with the inner tubularmember with shear disks which are devices known per se, and which assurethat in the event fulmination of coal should occur, the developingover-pressure will not result in danger to personnel and destruction ofthe device.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic verticalsection through a device according to the present invention with thecrown ofa coking oven being fragmentarily shown; and

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the device in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawings indetail, it will be seen that the novel device illustrated by way ofexample in the drawing, comprises a coal hopper 1 into which drypre-heated or not pre-heated coal may be introduced in known manner andwith any suitable device, such as a charging car, a flight conveyor, aconveyor screw or the like. The hopper l is provided with aback-pressure valve 2 interposed between it and the upper end of anouter tubular member 7 into which the coal is discharged. The purpose ofthe back pressure valve 2, which is known per se, in its construction,is to assure that upon termination of the charging process the charginggases, for instance resulting from fulmination of the coking oven 6 withwhose inlet 6a the lower end of the outer tubular member 7 communicates,cannot enter the hopper 1 and contact the incoming coal. The same istrue for prevention of contact of the coal and the hopper l withpossible flames which might be omitted through the inlet opening 6a. Forthis reason, the valve 2 is so constructed that it will close upon theoccurrence of even a slight back pressure in the inlet opening 6a.During normal filling operation, the valve 2 is open.

The coal issuing from the hopper 1 and thus a space 3 which is definedby the outer tubular member and an inner tubular member 4 which isconcentrically located in the outer tubular member; to the extentpossible the space 3 should never be completely empty during thecharging process in order to provide an appropriate closure of the inletopening 6a with respect to the hopper l by the presence of coal in thespace 3. The annular constriction 5 provided in the conically divergingend portion of the inner tubular member 4 and through which the coalmust pass before it can enter the inlet opening 6a, assures that thecoal will enter via the inlet opening 6a into the coking oven 6 in formof a tight compact coal jet which passes through the center of the inletopening 6a.

The upper end portion ofthe inner tubular member 4 is connected with theinner side of the outer tubular member 7 in the illustrated embodimentvia a circumferential flange 4a. The connection is effected in the uppersection of the outer tubular member 7 and the members 7 and 4 thusdefine with one another an annular gap or clearance 8 which whendiagrammatically illustrated sealing means 11 at the lower open end ofthe outer tubular member 7 engage the upper side of the charging oven 6circumferentially of the inlet opening 60, will communicate at its loweropen terminus with this inlet opening 6a. It should be noted that aportion of the inner tubular member 4 projects forwardly beyond thelower end of the outer tubular member 7 as shown in FIG. 1.

Venting means, here illustrated as a suction socket 9 provided in theouter tubular member 7, communicates with the clearance 8 so thatcharging gases entering the clearance 8 are either permitted to escapeor are withdrawn through the venting means 9. They can then be suppliedto a cyclone or a washer where they are treated in conventional manner;alternately they can be conducted into a neighboring coke oven orotherwise treated. In any case, emissions and uncontrolled escapethereof during the charging operation are almost entirely avoided inthis manner.

Overpressure which might develop for instance as a result of fulminationof coal in the oven 6 could lead to a destruction of the device or, evento physical harm to an operator. In order to avoid this, so-called sheardisks l0 well known per se to those skilled in the art are providedabove and below the connection between the inner and outer tubularmembers 4 and 7, respectively. In other words, these shear disks 10which can shear off in response to development of a predeterminedoverpressure are provided in that wall portion of the outer tubularmember 7 which bounds the passage through which the coal passes, that iswhich bounds the space 3 and in that portion of the wall which boundsthe outer side of the clearance 8.

It will be appreciated that resort to the present invention overcomesthe disadvantages of the prior art and achieves the objects of thepresent invention.

It will be understood hat each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in adevice for charging coking ovens, with dry coal, it is not intended tobe limited to the details shown since various modifications andstructural changes may be made without departing in any way from thespirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for vari ous applications without omitting featuresthat from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

' We claim:

1. A device for charging coking ovens with coal, particularly dry coal,comprising an outer tubular member having a lower end adapted forcommunication with an inlet opening of a coking oven, and an upper end;a hopper for coal communicating with said upper end; normally-openback-pressure valve means interposed between said hopper and upper endand adapted to close in response to development of back pressure; aninner tubular member accommodated concentrically in said outer tubularmember and having one end portion fixed with the same in an uppersection thereof, and a converging other end portion projecting outwardlybeyond said lower end, said tubular members defining with one another anannular clearance having an open terminus at said lower end; and ventingmeans communicating with said annular clearance for venting from thesame gases which enter said open terminus.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said other end portionconverges conically.

3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said other end portion isprovided with a constriction.

4. A device as defined in claim 1, said venting means being a suctionsocket provided in said outer tubular member and communicating with saidclearance intermediate said one end portion and said lower end.

5. A device as defined in claim 1, said one end portion having acircumferential flange connected with one inner surface of said outertubular member.

6. A device as defined in claim 1; and further comprising shear disksprovided on said outer tubular member about and below said one endportion of said inner tubular member.

1. A device for charging coking ovens with coal, particularly dry coal,comprising an outer tubular member having a lower end adapted forcommunication with an inlet opening of a coking oven, and an upper end;a hopper for coal communicating with said upper end; normally-openback-pressure valve means interposed between said hopper and upper endand adapted to close in response to development of back pressure; aninner tubular member accommodated concentrically in said outer tubularmember and having one end portion fixed with the same in an uppersection thereof, and a converging other end portion projecting outwardlybeyond said lower end, said tubular members defining with one another anannular clearance having an open terminus at said lower end; and ventingmeans communicating with said annular clearance for venting from thesame gases which enter said open terminus.
 1. A device for chargingcoking ovens with coal, particularly dry coal, comprising an outertubular member having a lower end adapted for communication with aninlet opening of a coking oven, and an upper end; a hopper for coalcommunicating with said upper end; normally-open back-pressure valvemeans interposed between said hopper and upper end and adapted to closein response to development of back pressure; an inner tubular memberaccommodated concentrically in said outer tubular member and having oneend portion fixed with the same in an upper section thereof, and aconverging other end portion projecting outwardly beyond said lower end,said tubular members defining with one another an annular clearancehaving an open terminus at said lower end; and venting meanscommunicating with said annular clearance for venting from the samegases which enter said open terminus.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1,wherein said other end portion converges conically.
 3. A device asdefined in claim 1, wherein said other end portion is provided with aconstriction.
 4. A device as defined in claim 1, said venting meansbeing a suction socket provided in said outer tubular member andcommunicating with said clearance intermediate said one end portion andsaid lower end.
 5. A device as defined in claim 1, said one end portionhaving a circumferential flange connected with one inner surface of saidouter tubular member.